aimikozumi: Here’s What’s New in iOS 6.1

Apple has just released iOS 6.1 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

According to the release notes, it includes features such as support for more LTE carriers, ability to purchase tickets through Fandango with Siri etc. In this post, we take a look at all the new features and improvements in iOS 6.1, includes the ones that Apple hasn’t mentioned in the release notes.

iCloud Settings: You will notice this as soon as your iOS device is upgraded to iOS 6.1. You’re now asked to confirm your Apple ID password for FaceTime and iMessage when starting your device for the first time after upgrading to iOS 6.1. Voice Dial Only: Apple has added a new section called “Voice Dial Only” for Voice Control feature under Siri. Here, users will be able to select the language for the Voice Dial feature. It’s quite strange that Apple decided to update the Voice Control feature, especially since Siri has been around for more than a year now. You can access it via the Settings app (Settings -> General -> International -> Voice Control -> Voice Dial Only section) ios_6_1_voice_dial_only

Support for more LTE carriers: iOS 6.1 also brings LTE support for the following carriers: USA: Alaska Communications, Alaska GCI, Bluegrass Cellular, C Spire, Cellcom, Pioneer Cellular Canada: MTS, Sasktel Puerto Rico: Claro, Open Mobile Croatia: T-Mobile, VIPNet Denmark: 3, Telenor, Telia Finland: DNA, Elisa, Sonera Greece: Cosmote Hungary: T-Mobile Italy: 3, TIM, Vodafone Kuwait: Zain Luxembourg: Tango Philippines: Globe, SMART Portugal: Optimus, TMN, Vodafone Saudi Arabia: Mobily, Zain South Africa: Vodacom Switzerland: Swisscom UAE: DU, Etisalat Reset Advertising Identifier: Apple has added a new Reset Advertising Identifier button. This button as the name suggests resets the Advertising Identifier so that future requests will return a different value. To access it, launch the Settings app, tap on General, followed by About and then scroll down and tap on Advertising. Tapping on the button prompts you to either reset or cancel the reset request. ios_6_1_advertising_identifier

Tweaked Music Controls on the Lock Screen: The music controls on the Lock screen (which can be accessed by double clicking on the Home button) have received a minor tweak in the look and feel department. ios_6_1_lock_screen

Report a Problem in the Maps app: If you want to report a problem with the mapping data, it is a lot easier to do it in iOS 6.1. Apple has replaced the Report a Problem link with a prominent button. Launch Apple’s Maps app and tap on the on the curled paged at the bottom right corner of the screen. You will now see the Report a Problem button along with Drop Pin, Print, Hide traffic and List Results buttons.

New Welcome screen for Passbook app: Apple updated the Passbook app with a new welcome screen. Apple seems to have also tweaked the text to reflect user’s location. It now reads “movie tickets” if you’re in the US and “cinema tickets” if you’re in the UK and so on. The other minor change is that the welcome screen is shown every time you open the app, which should make it easier to look for apps that support Passbook. In the previous version, the welcome screen showed up only for the first time.